Maple cookies, along with a warm drink on a snappy fall evening, are a delightfully decadent treat that will warm your heart. Our favorite maple cookie recipe is easy to make yet is complex in flavor. At its heart is its maple flavor through the addition of real maple syrup — a genuine North American substance that is made from the nectar of sugar maple trees.

Maple Syrup in North America

There are a lot of legends about how maple was first discovered; however, by the time the Europeans landed in the northeast section of the Americas, the Native Americans had discovered how to extract this treasured substance out of sugar maple trees. They shared this knowledge with the Europeans who, in turn, added their skills of storage and transportation into the mix to make maple syrup a big business that has spread throughout the world.

A New England Treat

Although the Canadian province of Quebec is the top producer of maple syrup today (6.5 million gallons per year), various other New England states and Northern Midwestern are known for their production as well. Vermont leads in American production, followed by New York, Maine, Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania. Maple syrup production is a lengthy process: it takes about 43 gallons of sap to make one gallon of pure maple syrup. For this reason, many of the bottles of “maple syrup” that you see on the shelves of your local grocery store use imitation maple flavor in their recipes.

The Benefits of Maple Sugar

Although maple syrup is probably best known for its addition to breakfast foods like pancakes, French toast and waffles, it is also a fabulous choice to substitute for cane sugar in baking. Maple syrup has health benefits that other processed and refined sugars do not. Maple syrup is high in antioxidants as well as zinc, potassium, riboflavin, calcium and magnesium. Did you know that during the Civil War, Union households regularly used maple sweetener to boycott cane sugar? This is because cane sugar was a product that used slave labor in its production. Maple syrup has been used in recipes for centuries and can be used in main courses, soups, desserts and sauces. If you’re looking to substitute maple syrup for sugar, ¾ cup of maple syrup for every cup of sugar.

What Kind of Syrup Should I Use for Maple Cookies?

When you’re making our favorite maple cookies, be sure to look for real maple syrup — not just “real maple-flavored syrup” or other misleading wording on labels. The cheap “maple-flavored” stuff is a highly refined, highly processed food. Its main ingredient is often high-fructose corn syrup. Real maple syrup will cost you more because of its labor-intensive production. For each bottle of genuine maple syrup, thousands of trees were likely tapped, miles of tubing were installed, and thousands of gallons of watery maple sap were boiled in a process called “sugaring” to condense it to the product we all know and love.

So, be prepared to pay a bit more. Real maple syrup is worth it, however, even if it is a splurge. Save some of that real maple syrup for our delicious maple syrup cookies. This golden, delicious all-natural, vegan, pure and naturally healthy substance is a delicious addition to your maple cookie recipes.

Kitchen and Serving Essentials at Miles Kimball

Our maple cookie recipe makes about 60 cookies, so they are great to make and freeze or share with guests who may drop by in time for a fall afternoon treat. Serve with coffee or tea from accessories and tea boxes available at Miles Kimball. For classic percolated taste, consider a tried-and-true stainless-steel coffee percolator from Miles Kimball for perfect coffee every time. Use our Chef’s Pride Insulated Coffee Carafe to keep your coffee fresh. (Hint: Our carafes also keep hot water hot, which was quickly boiled up in our Whistling Tea Kettles by Home-Style Kitchen™.)

Maple Cookies’ Ingredients

1 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 large egg

1 cup real maple syrup

2 teaspoons Watkins Pure Vanilla Extract  

2 teaspoons baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

4 cups all-purposed flour (bleached or unbleached)

1/3 cup granulated sugar (for decoration)

Maple Sugar Cookies: Step-by-Step Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350° F (or 175° C)
2. Grease several cookie sheets with your preferred non-stick method (Hint: We love our baking sheet with red silicone handles by Home-Style Kitchen™)
3. Cream butter and brown sugar together in a large bowl with our PosiGrip Stick Blender Set from Home Marketplace
4. Add egg, maple syrup and vanilla, using measuring spoons and measuring cups, available at Miles Kimball
5. Mix until well blended
6. Sift flour, salt and baking soda together with our mini flour sifter by Chef’s Pride
7. Stir into sugar mixture until well blended

At this point, some cooks have said that the dough is easier to work with if it is refrigerated for about an hour.

• Shape the maple cookie dough into 1-inch balls (making them the same size is easy with our stainless-steel cookie scoops)
• Roll each ball in sugar for decoration
• Place the balls on greased cookie sheets, about 2 inches apart
• Flatten slightly
• Bake for 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven
• Let cool on our favorite Chef’s Pride™ cooling rack set from Miles Kimball  

Shop Miles Kimball

Miles Kimball has all of the kitchen essentials and cookware you need to whip up maple cookies — or any other cookie, dessert or treat you prefer — in no time at all. We have a fantastic selection of silverware, silverware sets —even kitchen organization and storage products.

Let Us Know How Your Cookies Turned Out

Did you make our favorite maple cookie recipe? Do you have any tips or tricks to make our maple cookie recipe even better? Leave a comment below to let us know! We would love to hear from you.